The most DELICIOUS roasted broccoli and cheese soup! This creamy soup is made with just 8 ingredients and contains no milk or cream – just a little cheddar cheese. So rich in flavor and takes only 30 minutes!
Say hello to my version of Panera Bread’s staple broccoli cheddar soup. And oh my my is it YUMMY! My love for this soup runs deep.
If you didn’t already know, soup is one of my favorite things to eat! I make it year-round and start eating it on repeat especially once the temperature dips. There’s nothing like cozy-ing up to a warm bowl of soup that is abundant in vegetables and perfectly seasoned with lots of herbs.
Why We Love This Soup
This cozy recipe is everything you could want in a soup!
It’s loaded with flavor and made with just 8 simple ingredients. The layers of flavor come from roasting the broccoli, using garlic, and letting the soup simmer with thyme sprigs.
I lightened up this recipe by replacing the milk/cream with potatoes… Sneaky right? 😉 I’m completely obsessed with this recipe. It is creamy, satisfying, and completely DELICIOUS!
Ingredients & Substitutions
First, let’s go over the ingredients you’ll need to make this dish. I also note my choice of ingredient substitutions if needed!
- Broccoli: use bagged pre-cut broccoli florets or cut broccoli into florets yourself.
- Onion: Use one medium yellow onion or 2/3 of a large onion. Or use 1 medium leek.
- Vegetable broth: use a high-quality vegetable broth or make your own.
- Yukon gold potatoes (yellow): the potatoes help give body and creaminess without using milk/cream.
- Garlic: for extra flavor.
- Cheddar cheese: I used a milk cheddar cheese in this specific recipe. I recommend organic/without hormones.
- Thyme sprigs: I love using this when simmering the soup to add another level of flavor.
- Oil: use avocado oil, olive oil, or vegan butter/regular butter.
How to Make Broccoli Cheese Soup – Step by Step
- First, preheat oven to 450F. Drizzle broccoli with olive oil and dash of salt – then roast for 10 minutes.
- While broccoli is roasting, sauté onions and garlic with oil until soft.
- When broccoli is done roasting, add to pot with onions with diced potatoes, thyme sprigs, and vegetable broth. Season with salt & black pepper.
- Cover soup and simmer for 15 minutes – potatoes should be soft when tested with a fork. Remove thyme sprigs.
- Blend soup until smooth then add back to pot with cheddar cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and serve!
Extra Helpful Cooking Tips
Prep your vegetables: If you are just beginning to cook this is a super helpful tip. Prepping your veggies will make your cooking process seamless and less stressful.
Cheese: I used a mild cheddar cheese for this recipe. I recommend organic cheddar that is made without rBST (artificial growth hormones).
Blending soup: I recommend using a hand-immersion blender or high-powered blender for this process.
How to Store & Freeze Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Refrigerate: Let soup cool before placing in an airtight container and chill for up to 3 days in refrigerator.
Freeze: Cool to room temperature and place either in an airtight container or freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
More Delicious Soups to Try
- Creamy Cauliflower Soup
- Creamy Parmesan Zucchini Soup
- 30-Minute Leek and Potato Soup
- Healthy Tomato Basil Soup
- Autumn Squash Soup
- Tuscan White Bean Soup
I hope you love this soup as much as we do! It’s comforting, satisfying, and has the perfect amount of cheesiness.
Don’t forget to serve your favorite crusty bread on the side!
Creamy Roasted Broccoli and Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 16 oz bag broccoli florets (or 4-5 cups)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 Yukon gold potatoes (yellow), peeled and cubed
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- thyme sprigs *optional
- salt & black peppers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450F. Lay broccoli on sheet pan and drizzle with 1 Tablespoon oil and sprinkle of salt. Toss and roast for 10 minutes.
- While broccoli is roasting saute in a pot onion & garlic with 1 tablespoon of oil for 5 minutes until soft.
- Then add to pot: roasted broccoli, diced potatoes, vegetable broth, thyme sprigs, salt & black pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes until potatoes and broccoli are soft when tested with fork.
- Remove thyme sprigs with tongs or fork then use a hand-immersion blender or high-powered blender to blend soup until creamy and smooth.
- Stir in shredded cheddar cheese then season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with your favorite crusty bread!
Video
The soup is excellent, but there are a couple of improvements I would like to request in the recipe.
It calls for 2 Yukon gold potatoes – potatoes come in a Wide variety of sizes. I ended up using 4 and will use 5 next time, as I use organic and they are pretty small. What amount of diced potatoes are needed? That is a much more accurate measure than the number of potatoes. Or better yet the weight.
I made my own broccoli florets – I’ll weigh them next time.
I don’t have thyme sprigs – what is the equivalent amount of dried thyme? I used 1 tsp and that may’ve been a tad too much.
I’m with Wendy – very literal and I don’t like to guess…
PS: for you literal cooks like me . . .🙃 . . .I bought a larger bag of broccoli because we eat a lot of it in our house . . .I weighed 16 ounces on a digital scale and then measured it in a measuring cup . . .16 ounces is a little over 8 cups pushed down in cup.
Also, at step 3, I brought all to a boil 1st, and then simmered for 15 minutes.
So easy, creamy and YUMMY!!😀🥰😍
Thank you so much, Wendy!! So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Hi. This recipe says 6 servings, but how much is one serving? One cup?
Can I use frozen broccoli florets??
Ive not used them in this specific recipe, but they should work!